


Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy

by fandoms_overload



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive!Laura, Cowboy AU, F/F, M/M, Strippers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-22
Updated: 2016-07-22
Packaged: 2018-07-26 00:02:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7552363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandoms_overload/pseuds/fandoms_overload
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek wasn't your average rancher. He, along with his sister Laura, took over the family ranch in the foothills of the Bitterroot Mountains after the passing of his parents three winters ago.</p><p>     Laura never asks about his weekends spent in the city, nor does she ask about the dopey smile he comes home with on Monday morning.</p><p>     Well, usually she doesn't ask. This time, however, is a different story. This time, she has to ask. Even if he doesn't exactly want to explain what happened over the weekend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy

**Author's Note:**

> not beta'd  
> all mistakes are mine  
> this is my first Sterek work so be nice please  
> con-crit is appreciated.

Derek wasn't your average rancher. He, along with his sister Laura, took over the family ranch in the foothills of the Bitterroot Mountains after the passing of his parents three winters ago. Triskele Ranch was one of the oldest ranches in the valley, and one of the most respected, but ranching wasn't what Derek wanted for his life. He'd been preparing to move out of the family home, off the ranch, and into the city to pursue his dream of dancing before the accident happened.

Laura takes care of the less physical aspects of the ranch, such as financials and paperwork, while Derek does most of the manual labor on the land. He tends to the animals, and the crops, and sometimes takes on training horses if he has spare time. He's an excellent ranch hand, but he has another job as well. Laura never asks about his weekends spent in the city, nor does she ask about the dopey smile he comes home with on Monday morning. She has a vague idea that he's seeing someone that he hasn't decided to bring home just yet, but she let's him go without a second glance because she knows that it makes him happy. That doesn't mean that she doesn't wonder what exactly he gets up to, but she respects his privacy, and doesn't ask.

Well, usually she doesn't ask. This time, however, is a different story. This time, she has to ask. Even if he doesn't exactly want to explain what happened over the weekend.

Derek left Friday afternoon, like he always does, once his work was done for the day. He packs the same small black duffle bag, and heads out of town, and to the apartment he stays at for the weekend. A year ago and he would be looking for a hotel room for the weekend, but now that he's well established, and made friends, there's an extra key on his ring, not that he ever has to use it. Stiles is waiting at the door when he makes it up the stairs of the building, just like he always is, ready to greet his hard working cowboy with a kiss, which Derek gladly returns. Derek isn't exactly hiding Stiles from Laura, he just doesn't want to explain how they met. He doesn't want to tell his sister what kind of job he actually holds in the city, because he knows that she'd never approve. Stiles understands this. His dad doesn't know about his side job either. Officially, Stiles in an author. Just as officially, Derek is a ranch hand; but, they work together on weekends in a totally different way. Derek only works weekends, which makes him more high demand, while Stiles works a few days during the week as well as the weekend, but he's just as popular as Derek. Stiles is clumsy and awkward on stage, but he can work the pole like no one else, even in the ridiculous heels that have Derek drooling in no time. Derek's stage presence is almost the exact opposite of Stiles'. While Stiles, known as Bambi, is all lean muscle, long, wobbly legs and perfect pole work, Derek, whom goes by Casanova, is all about the strip. Casanova is known for his perfectly toned, and tanned, muscles, glistening under the bright lights of the stage, his slow, sensual striptease, and his surprisingly sexy scowl. Derek keeps his stage clothes at Stiles' apartment now so there's no chance of Laura accidentally finding his assless leather chaps. That would be mortifying. Derek usually just wears whatever flannel shirt he wore on the drive over from the ranch on stage for the weekend, the manager doesn't mind, and he always wears his favorite cowboy hat. Stiles on the other hand, has quite the extravagant outfit on the weekends. Not something Derek actually thought he'd find in Montana, even in this city. Stiles wears ridiculously tall, moss colored heels, despite his height, white lace panties, with a little tail, a headband with a cute little deer ears, and just enough eyeliner to make his naturally large, innocent eyes pop even more. Needless to say, Bambi is a favorite of everyone, especially Derek.

Usually, once they've both finished their sets for the night, Derek to "Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy" by Big & Rich, and Stiles to "Amber Eyes" by Will Sims, they grab a bite to eat or hang out for a bit with Stiles' best friend Kira, then head back to the apartment to mindlessly watch TV until one or both of them pass out tangled together. This weekend however, they decide to be a little bit more adventurous and stay after their shifts end. Stiles' birthday is coming up on Wednesday, so they decided to spend the weekend celebrating. Celebrating with lots of alcohol. And sex. Stiles demands lots of birthday sex, which Derek is more than happy to provide.

*

The weekend passes in flashes of bright lights, leather, and lace. Derek wakes cuddled up next to Stiles on Monday morning like always, only to find much brighter light spilling through the curtains than there usually is when he gets ready to leave. Fumbling for his phone that was lost somewhere in the pile of close on the floor next to the bed, Derek panics when he turns the device on and sees that he has five missed calls from Laura. Not surprising, considering that it's not five in the morning like he expected, but actually almost two in the afternoon. Derek's panicking wakes up Stiles, who tries his best to calm down his hyperventilating boyfriend. Once his breathing returns to normal, Derek calls Laura back from the comfort of Stiles' embrace.

Laura is livid. She demands to know exactly where Derek is, because she was coming to get him herself. Derek has never been late getting back to the ranch after a weekend in the city, and with the killer hangover he's currently got, he's not handling Laura's confrontation very well. Seeing Derek's stress, Stiles decides to take a risk and takes Derek's phone away from him and speaks to Laura himself. She was going to find out about them eventually, they'd discussed it, so Stiles apologizes to Laura, taking the blame for Derek not coming home and explaining that they were celebrating his birthday and slept through the alarm. This calms her down as Stiles assures her that Derek is perfectly fine, safe, in their apartment. That confuses Laura quite a bit, so Stiles gives her the address, because she really was already on the road, headed into the city to find Derek, so they might as well get this part over with.

Once Laura hangs up, Stiles and Derek get busy cleaning up the apartment, making sure to very carefully hide their work "clothes" in a box in the bottom of the closet, just to make sure that Laura doesn't find out about that part of Derek's life just yet. He wasn't exactly happy that Stiles invited Laura over without warning like he did, but he's not really that upset either. Derek's secretly been dying to tell Laura about Stiles, and to bring Stiles out to the ranch for a visit, he just wasn't sure how to go about it. Once the apartment is presentable again, they both go about finding their clothes and getting dressed. Stiles has just finished pulling Derek's plaid shirt on when there's an impatient knock at the door. Derek takes a deep breath before going and opening the door. Laura's face is completely unreadable when she steps into the apartment.

"Do you want some water Laura?" Derek asks shyly, while his big sister stares him down from where she has perched on the couch. She doesn't speak, just nods stiffly, so Derek scurries into the kitchen, where Stiles already has the glasses out, getting water for all of them.

"Breathe, Der, everything's fine," Stiles reassures him with a gentle smile and a chaste kiss to the temple.

Derek takes Laura's water to her, with Stiles following with theirs. Once the glasses have been set out on the messy glass coffee table, Stiles and Derek fold together, Stiles curled perfectly on Derek's lap where he's pulled down by Derek's large hands, into the spacious chair across from the couch, directly in front of Laura, who startles slightly at the open display of affection. Laura's known for years that Derek was bisexual, but she's never seen him show such open affection to anyone. Not even before the accident.

"Well, since he's not going to introduce us," Stiles starts with a mischievous smile, "Hi, I'm Stiles, Derek's kind-of-but-not-really secret boyfriend."

Laura almost chokes on her water before she's able to compose herself. Derek won't meet her eyes, so she introduces herself as well, "Nice to meet you Stiles, I'm Laura, Derek's definitely-not-secret-but-totally-in-the-dark big sister". Laura smiles as Stiles twists himself half out of Derek's lap to shake her hand across the table. Derek knows the question that he's been actively avoiding is coming. He's put off introducing these two just to avoid the question that slips innocently from Laura's lips.

"So how did you two meet?"

Derek tenses up, his grip tightening around Stiles slim waist, and he holds his breath. Stiles just smiles, despite Laura raising an eyebrow at her brother's reaction. "I'm a novelist," Stiles starts, "But I work part-time at a club a few blocks from here. I met Derek there on his first night here in the city, and decided that he was gorgeous and that we were going to be friends, whether he liked it or not. So I bought him a drink and bothered him all night, until I finally got a smile out of him. Then I kept doing that every time he was there, and eventually he gave in and admitted that I wasn't that bad of company. I knew that he was staying at a hotel on the other side of town, and I offered to let him sleep on my couch one night when he was way too wasted to get himself back to the hotel. That's only happened twice, then I just told him to quit wasting his money on the hotel room, that he could just stay with me on the weekends. I really enjoyed his company. I don't think we even realized that we were falling in love. It just kinda happened. We text and call each other throughout the week, he shows up here on Friday night, and leaves Monday morning. Somehow we started to cuddle while watching TV on the couch and that led to a lot of more-than-friendly groping on said couch, which quickly got moved the bedroom, and I kinda don't ever want to let him out of my bed now, because the way he-" Stiles is cut off by Derek.

"Stiles," he whines.

Laura is wide-eyed, with a faint blush, while Derek is hiding his face in the back of Stiles' hair. Stiles can feel the heat of Derek's intense blush warming the back of neck and shoulders even though their clothes, and Stiles' is sporting a wide, shit-eating grin. While everything Stiles said was completely true, even omitting the part where they both work at the club, as male stri-...exotic dancers, there are still some things that Laura just didn't need to know. Details about Derek's sex life is one of those things.

"So, how long has this been going on?" Laura asks once she's recomposed herself once again. She was not prepared for the answer to come from Derek this time, nor was she prepared for the answer itself.

"Just shy of a year," Derek reply's quietly, still using Stiles as his human shield, protecting him from the wrath of his big sister, which he knows is coming. "We met two years ago, but we've only been dating for just under a year," he clarifies, as if that would stop Laura's coming outburst.

"A YEAR!" Laura shouts, causing Stiles to flinch in sympathy, as Derek cringes under him. She knows that Derek has been coming into the city every weekend without fail for almost two and a half years, and she figured that there was someone he was probably seeing here in the city, but she never would have guessed that he was in a serious relationship, and had been committed to someone for almost a year. Laura takes a deep breath before she looks up at the startled boys sitting across from her. Despite Derek being twenty-six, twenty-seven in December, she still sees the fragile, sensitive little boy she grew up with. Derek may be a man now, by anyone's standards, but he's still her baby brother, and she worries about him. "Okay," Laura starts again, calmly this time, "Why didn't you tell me Der?" she asks quietly. "You know that I'm okay with you liking guys. I've been okay with it since you were seventeen," she added, seeing how he squirmed at the question.

"I just didn't know how to explain how we met," Derek mumbles, confusing Laura. People meet at bars and clubs all the time. It's not that unusual. Then she thinks about it for a minute, Stiles mentioned that he works at the club part-time. Laura had assumed that he was probably a server, but by the blush starting to rise onto Stiles' soft cheeks, maybe he's not a server.

"What exactly do you do at the club Stiles?" Laura asks suspiciously. Derek hides his face in Stiles shoulder, confirming that he definitely wasn't a server if Derek was this embarrassed.

"I'm a dancer," Stiles says with pride. He's not ashamed to be an exotic dancer. It's a legitimate job if you work at the right places. He's just a dancer, there's no secret back rooms in their club for people who want private dances, and there are a lot who ask, he just dances on stage because it makes him feel beautiful, and it pays the bills when his novels fall through.

Laura is staring. She knows that she's staring with wide eyes and her mouth is probably hanging open, but she can't seem to get that under control just yet. Stiles is a stripper. Her baby brother is dating a stripper. "A stripper," she muttered to herself. Laura isn't sure how she's supposed to process that information. She now understands why Derek has been so hesitant to bring Stiles home with him, but she still doesn't get why he didn't just tell her. Was Derek embarrassed about Stiles' job? He didn't seem to be, considering that they've been dating for almost a year. But something was missing here.

Laura finally got her facial expression back under control and was able to turn her stunned gaze back to Derek. She must not have been making a particularly pleasant face, more so than she realized, because Derek looks to be on the verge of tears, and Stiles is alternating between glaring at her and trying to soothe him. "I'm sorry," she started immediately, seeing her brother so upset, "I didn't mean to be rude. I'm not judging you Stiles, I was just a bit shocked," she tried to explain. Derek seemed to perk back up some when he realized that Laura didn't hate them, but his eyes were still a bit glassy. Something was still off though. "Is there something else?" she asks cautiously; she doesn't want to push Derek into actually crying. The deer-in-the-headlights look that Derek gives her is answer enough, but she keeps quiet. Stiles is whispering something softly into Derek's ear and he seems to be thinking hard about whatever Stiles is telling him. Derek finally seems to come to a decision; he nods slightly at Stiles, and tightens his grip again, like he's afraid of Laura's reaction, which makes her nervous for him. Stiles worms his fingers between Derek's white knuckles and strokes his thumb against Derek's hand in a soft, comforting gesture. Finally, Derek opens his eyes, and looks directly at Laura.

"I'm a dancer too," he says quietly, forcing himself to keep eye contact with his sister until it's clear that she heard him. As her eyes widen again, ever so slightly, Derek drops his gaze away from her burning green orbs. Laura and Derek both take a deep breath, steadying themselves for the conversation to follow, no matter how short they both want it to be.

"Well, now everyone knows. The only person that doesn't know about our evening jobs is my dad, so I guess when we get done here I need to make a phone call," Stiles suddenly interjects, breaking the tension between the Hale siblings. Laura stares at him like he's crazy, while Derek huffs a quiet chuckle against Stiles' shoulder.

"You're just going to call your dad and tell him that you, and your boyfriend, are both exotic dancers?" Laura asks in disbelief, momentarily distracted away from Derek.

"Yep," Stiles confirms, wiggling around Derek's lap to get his phone out of his pocket, only to discover that the battery is dead, he must have forgotten to put it on the charger before falling into bed the night before.

"Here, use mine, you big dork," Derek says fondly as he hand Stiles his phone. Stiles quickly scrolls through Derek's contacts to find his dad, putting it on speaker. John Stilinski is the sheriff of Stiles small hometown of Beacon Hills, back in California. He'd come up one weekend to surprise his son, and got a surprise of his own when he found Stiles and Derek curled together on the couch watching Star Wars, thankfully in their pajamas.

"Hey, Derek, how's everything going?" John asks fondly as he picks up.

"Sorry to disappoint you dad, it's your actual son, not your favorite son," Stiles teases his dad fondly, ignoring John mutter something about Derek being his favorite for a reason. "So there's actually something I needed to talk to you about, dad." Stiles continues.

"Well unless there is something he failed to mention before, I know Derek isn't pregnant, so what did you do son?" John asks wearily, earning a real laugh from Laura. "Stiles, who was that?"

"That was Derek's sister Laura. I finally got to meet her," Stiles answers nonchalantly. "So, since I was finally able to convince Derek to talk to her, mostly because she came all the way here to find him, because we got far too drunk last night and-"

"The point Stiles," John interrupts him, "What is it you needed to talk to me about?"

"Right," Stiles continues as though he hadn't been interrupted mid-sentence, "So remember when I told you that Derek was just a ranch hand? That may not have been entirely true," Stiles tells his dad.

"Okay, son, if he's not just a ranch hand, what is he? And why do you feel the need to tell me this?" John asked with caution. Stiles has always been a bit unpredictable; he assumes that whatever comes out of Stiles mouth next with surprise him no matter what he tries to come up with on his own.

"So, Derek and I actually are co-workers. We both work part-time at this club just a few blocks from the apartment, but we don't actually work together because I'm pretty sure that we'd get in trouble, I can imagine the tips we'd get but we'd also probably get fired so they really wouldn't be worth it, 'cause I actually really like working-"

"Stiles," John interrupts him the same time that Derek nervously spits out, "We're dancers"

Everyone is quiet for a moment while the Sheriff takes in what Derek had just said.

"Dancers?" He repeats. "What kind of dancers are you Stiles?"

"Um, th-the exotic kind," Stiles stutters out, after hearing the slightly angry, or disappointed he's not sure, undertone in his dad's voice. The Sheriff was silent for a moment, except for his quiet breaths.

"My only son, is calling to tell me that not only is he dating a stripper, but that he himself is also a stripper?" John finally says slowing, like he's waiting for someone to correct him, or tell him that this is all an elaborate joke.

"Yea," Stiles answers lamely, "Yeah that's exactly what this is. We had to tell Laura, so I figured that I better call and tell you too."

"You told Laura, your boyfriend's sister, before you told me?" John sounded a little hurt to find out that his son didn't tell him this first.

"Um, well, she kinda figured it out, more-or-less, so we kinda had to tell her," Derek explains shakily.

"Are you angry?" Stiles asks in a small voice. Derek hold him a little tighter, knowing how much Stiles' dad means to him. If his dad reacts badly, it will shatter him.

"Well I'm not happy, but no son, I'm not angry. I don't really approve, but you're almost twenty-five now, I can't exactly stop you," John answered in a fond voice. He could never truly be angry with his son, except for the one time he found him and Scott drunk in the woods when they were sixteen, That was a reason to be angry, though it didn't last near as long as it should have.Stiles let's out a breath of relief that he didn't know he was holding. "I was planning on driving up and surprising you for your birthday, how about we all meet for dinner or something?" John suggests.

"How about, Stiles texts you the address, and you can both stay at the ranch with us for the week, and Derek and I will cook a special dinner for Stiles, for his birthday," Laura counters, giving Derek and Stiles a look, daring them argue with her.

"Sounds like a great plan to me," John agrees smugly. "I'll see all of you soon."

Once Stiles realizes that his dad had hung up, he quits staring at it, and moves his gaze up to Laura, who is smiling at them with just as much smugness as they could hear in John's voice just before he hung up. It's nearly five in the evening, so Laura suggests that they all grab a bite to eat, before they hit the road and head back to the ranch. Derek helps Stiles quickly pack a bag for a few nights, then they all three headed down to Urban Jungle, the club where they both dance. Derek would have liked to avoid the place altogether while Laura was with them, but Stiles insisted that he and Kira always had dinner together after her dance on Mondays, and that she would completely freak out if he doesn't show up. Derek, knowing Kira as well, knew that he was right. Dinner went better than Derek expected, Kira only embarrassed them badly once, because of course she was the only person aside from themselves, who has a picture of them together, both dressed for work. Laura was a bit uncomfortable eating dinner with someone wearing only a bikini at first, but she settled in quickly once Kira started talking and she realized that Kira was basically just a ray of sunshine. She never went to anything less than her rather modest bikini, but no one ever complained about that, because she was easily the best actually dancer in the entire club. She was a nationally ranked gymnast as a child, and never quite lost that flexibility and grace. After much begging from Laura of all people, Kira agreed to drive out to the ranch as well on Wednesday for Stiles' birthday dinner. It was her day off anyway. She's only dancing weeknights through the summer to help pay for college.

*

Once everyone arrived at the farm on Wednesday afternoon, Derek saddled up their three gentlest horses, as well as his own, and took Stiles, John, and Kira for a tour of the ranch, much to their delight, while Laura finished up the cake she was secretly baking.

*

The party was a success. Everyone had a great time, and agreed to come back to the ranch for Thanksgiving, after a lot of begging from Laura, who silently missed having the house so full of laughter and life.

*

Stiles finished his third novel around Christmas time, and six months later, resigned from dancing at Urban Jungle. After much begging from Derek, and Laura, Stiles agreed to move out of the city, and into one of the smaller houses on the ranch, with Derek. After spending some time in the city herself, Laura surprised everyone when she brought Kira home with her for Christmas, and kissed her under the mistletoe.

*

Derek and Stiles were married the following summer, having a small ceremony by Stiles' favorite pond on the ranch. Stiles got an earful from Scott and Allison when they received their wedding invitation without knowing he was even dating anyone, but were there and happy for the both of them none-the-less.


End file.
